


Life without a Cat is Possible, but Pointless

by KitMiller



Series: Martin & Luke [4]
Category: Original Work
Genre: Betaed, Cats, Domestic Fluff, Established Relationship, Fluff, M/M, Memories, Pets, Urban Fantasy, Vampires
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-07-13
Updated: 2021-02-10
Packaged: 2021-03-04 19:42:26
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,268
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25221850
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KitMiller/pseuds/KitMiller
Summary: “Honey. Darling. Sweetums.” Luke pointed at the mass of fluffy white fur on his lap. “This one. This is not negotiable.”Martin and Luke get a cat.
Relationships: Martin Nicholls/Luke Gardner, Original Male Character/Original Male Character
Series: Martin & Luke [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1761223
Kudos: 7





	1. This Particular Cat

Luke was sitting on the floor, surrounded by cats. Martin had never seen him this happy.

For Luke’s birthday, Martin had given him a small cat keychain, along with a card that promised him a real one. Luke had been over the moon, but between his erratic work schedule and Martin’s vampirism necessitating they visit the shelter after dark, it had been six months before they finally could make an appointment that suited them both.

Luke was laughing; a small tabby was using him as its own personal climbing tower. Martin winced in sympathy when it dug its tiny claws into Luke’s arm, but Luke didn’t appear to mind.

Martin leaned back in the armchair he was sitting in and watched his husband play with the cats. Luke had grown up in the countryside and his family had always kept pets, especially cats. He had missed cats terribly ever since he’d moved out. Now that he and Martin had got married and bought a small house in a small seaside town, Martin figured a cat to complete the picture was well overdue.

Something tugged at Martin’s shoe laces; a plump tortoiseshell had decided they were the perfect toy. Martin dragged his foot to the side. The tortoiseshell’s pupils dilated and it dropped down, wiggling its butt. Then, ferociously, it threw itself unto his shoe.

Martin smiled, moving his foot from side to side so the tortoiseshell could chase it. His own life had been rather devoid of pets, though this had not been by design. He was looking forward to having a cat in the house. The closest he’d ever got to having one was the big orange tom that had shown up in the summer of 1938 at the vicarage where he’d lived at the time. Since the vicar had been allergic, Martin had done his best to find it a good home. A nearby farmer had been all too happy to take the tom in the end; apparently, she’d had a mice problem in the barn.

The tortoiseshell was lying on its side, kicking at Martin’s shoe and biting down on a lace. Martin grinned, but when he bent over to pet it, it swatted at his fingers. He could only barely withdraw his hand before it drew blood.

Other than the orange tom, there really only had been dogs in Martin’s life. The first had been way back in the 1890’s, when he was around ten years old; there had been a break-in at the family house and his father had brought home a bulldog a few days later. Unfortunately — for his father, at least — the dog had turned out to be the friendliest creature on earth, who greeted even perfect strangers like old friends. His father had grumbled, but for Martin and his siblings, she was the perfect playmate. Martin pushed down a wave of guilt that he couldn’t remember her name, or if she even had one. It had been a hundred and twenty years ago, he was surprised he remembered her at all.

The other dog had come nearly fifty years later. A young couple in the village had owned an overly energetic beagle named Rolo, which Martin took on walks after night fall to relieve the couple a little, especially after the birth of their first child.

“Honey!” Martin looked up. Luke was waving him over, grinning. Martin got up and sat down next to him. The small tabby had made itself comfortable on Luke’s shoulders, and he was stroking what Martin assumed must be a cat but more closely resembled a cloud. “Honey. Darling. Sweetums.” Luke pointed at the mass of fluffy white fur on his lap. “This one. This is not negotiable.”

Martin reached out and scratched the cat’s head. The cat blinked and chirped. “I’m not protesting, but what is it that makes it so special?”

Luke looked Martin dead in the eyes. “It’s you, but a cat.”

Martin laughed. There certainly was a great physical resemblance; Martin’s hair was white blond, and he was very pale. The cat and him even shared their blue eye colour.

“Not just looks, either,” Luke remarked. “Watch this.” Luke stopped stroking the cat and it immediately started to protest cacophonously, only stopping when Luke continued petting it.

“I’m not that needy,” Martin said indignantly.

Luke only raised an eyebrow at him.

“I’m not!”

“I’ll remember that the next time I’m late for work because you didn’t want to stop cuddling,” Luke replied drily.

Recognising defeat, Martin closed his mouth and scratched the cat behind the ears.


	2. Chapter 2

Ostensibly, the cat was Luke’s. It had been his birthday present; he had got to pick it; he had got to name it — blurting out “Fluffy” after being put on the spot by the very kind worker at the animal shelter, but the name had transmuted into various variations over time. Rather than trying to keep up, Martin had resorted to calling it simply “The Cat.”

In reality, though, the cat got to spend most of his time with Martin, the two keeping each other company while Luke was at work. Apparently, they had entire conversations with one another. The way Martin would quite earnestly talk to the cat about what he wanted for dinner never failed to make Luke smile. 

In hindsight, the packages should really not have been such a surprise. 

*

“Martin, love, far be it from me to tell you what to do —” Luke didn’t know how to continue. 

Martin paused in the process of opening the package. “What is it?”

“I really don’t want you to take this the wrong way,” Luke started again. The cat was winding around his legs and chirped for food he had definitely already eaten. Luke knew, Luke had fed him. 

Martin snorted, pushing the flaps away. “Well, I can’t take anything the wrong way if you don’t come out with it.”

“It’s just —” Luke gestured to the package. “That’s the third that arrived this week. And it’s Tuesday. You never bought that much stuff online before.” 

“Hm.” Martin looked down at the package. “I suppose there never was much I wanted to buy.” He took out the package’s content. “But who could resist this nifty little thing?”

To Luke, it looked like a rectangular contraption with fuzzy fabric over it. “Care to enlighten me as to the purpose of this whatever-it-is?”

“It’s a cat bed!” Martin looked so proud of himself, Luke had to laugh. “A cat bed you hang on the radiator so it’s all nice and toasty.”

“Right.” Luke picked up the cat, which immediately snuggled against his arm. “Because this Fluffmonster here is definitely going to be cold.”

“Maybe he is, you can’t know,” Martin retorted, scratching the aforementioned Fluffmonster between the ears. “If they made those things for humans, I would immediately get one. I’m always cold.”

“You poor thing,” Luke replied drily, delighting in playing the long-suffering foil to Martin’s quirks.

“Yes,” Martin said. “Pity me.” He went over to the nearest radiator and fixed the cat bed onto it. Now Luke could see that it looked like a glorified shelf that hung from the top of the radiator. Then Martin took the cat from his arms and placed him in the bed.

The cat fussed. He first turned around, then laid down, then got up again to lie on his other side. Finally, with an irritated _mrrrew_ , he jumped down and zipped into the kitchen.

“Well,” said Luke.

“He’ll get used to it and he’ll love it,” Martin asserted.

Luke let him have his — in Luke’s opinion misplaced — optimism. 

**Author's Note:**

> The title is a translated and modifed quote by German comedian Loriot.
> 
> Thanks to Beth for beta-ing!


End file.
